Named After Maddux

Good mock! I don’t love Seaver King as a Cubs target personally but I understand the rationale above. I’d have skipped the editor’s note on the Dodgers pick. I know how it was trying to come off, but respectfully I think it missed the mark.

Yeah I agree. I'd love it if they could get Yesavage. Apparently Billy Swoope is a big fan and we know he carries a lot of weight in the org. That four pitch mix could really eat in pro ball and they really should get him to throw that deathball/heavy gyro SL more. It had lowish usage and I thought it was one of his best pitches rather than something he turned to during the third time through the order. I wonder if a guy like Drew Beam finds his way to 54 and you just correct that oversight.

Dickerson had worse swing decisions from what I remember. Maybe a better comp for Tibbs would be like a LHH Taylor Ward. Slightly better than average whiffs, good swing decisions, better than average EV. Probably not a consistent all-star, but consistently good hitter.

I'd really love Cam Smith. Carson Benge is another one that I think could be one to zero in on. Tibbs III makes a lot of sense, but it's still hard to see him lasting to 14 with how much interest he has up above. I wouldn't be shocked if the Cubs also look into the prep pitching side. Kash Mayfield, Ryan Sloan, maybe William Schmidt or Cam Caminiti. Could pair the prep arm up with someone who can minimize the risk in the class like Peyton Stovall, Ryan Waldschmidt, or Jared Thomas in round 2.

Curious if you considered Nebraska as part of the Midwest. Some folks locally here have certainly caught the eye of some scouts early. Tyson Lewis is likely a day 1 guy.

I just would have been very surprised to see Wicks on Tuesday. He's only pitched once this year on a normal five-day schedule. That was his 7/18 followed by 7/23 starts. He's almost always getting 6, 7, or even more days off in between starts. Totally fair to open up that can of worms about the Cubs' conservative style, but still think purely with the Wicks decision I'd say the Wednesday in Detroit or Thursday in Pittsburgh might make more sense. And complementing O_O's post above, it's probably best to have Wicks with as much rest as possible. His fastball had more zip than normal his past turn. Hoping that continues the rest of the way.

“That Cade Horton is a bad man” Yeah Ty knows his pitching. Hope this one looks as good as that. Could be fun!

No I haven’t but that’s a great reminder. I’ll ask. Frisch looked great for Oregon State before he was injured but this has been a long recovery. I was so caught up in this draft that he kinda fell off my prospect radar. Thanks for the reminder.

Big draft for Billy Swoope. He and NE Crosschecker, Matt Sherman, tag-teamed on Matt Shaw. Billy also had Carico and Hope like you mentioned. Then cleaned house with Trice, Armstrong, Brown, and Dean. Like you said it’s clear Billy and Ty are such respected names in the room. ”Electric” and “sharp” were the descriptors passed along about how Wiggins looked this fall. Obviously that could just be talk but hey I’m intrigued if they feel like the command took a step forward. Oh well, regardless just glad they signed him. That was getting interesting there if Wiggins camp was going to really walk away from $1.4M.

Even more than that, the Cubs area scout who recommended the pick has been following Jaxon for years before during his high school career. He looked electric this fall. We’ll see how it all turns out but they took a swing on upside that was at least founded in a long history with the player.

They are from my understanding. It would be pick 69 next season, which will make for a lot of "nice" interjections

Won't speculate too much, but worth checking out the picture of Flanagan that he posted. Unfortunately might explain lost leverage.

Confirmed with the scout that signed him that Rosario is 6'2"

Probably a tad more than Rosario's slot ($325k) for Zyhir Hope. Maybe a clean $400k when all is said and done.

Worth pointing out that Davis made significantly worse contact than Schanuel (73% to 87%) and chase rate and EV about even. Davis also performed poorly with wood bats. I don’t dislike Davis, but just thinking about how the Cubs value hit tool, I’d be a bit more surprised. I can understand Schanuel, especially if you could get him for $4 million ($800k under slot).

I’m guessing it ultimately is a hitter, but hard to imagine they’d pass Dollander or Lowder (really unlikely to be there). Good bevy of hitters in both college (Brayden Taylor, Schanuel, JGon) and (Aidan Miller, Colt Emerson, Arjun Nimmala) who could be there. Lots of good talent.

It was exit velocities entering the season. They were pretty low, but this season has been different. He sacrificed contact for drive earlier in the year. In the last few weeks, Taylor has brought the qualities together. He doesn’t chase, his in-zone contact has improved, and he’s still driving the ball. This year he’s taken his avg EVs from 87 to 91 mph. Big difference.

Raisin law in this country, it's not governed by reason

Good mock, Jeremy. FYI, Colin Houck had offers to play QB from eight programs (including Arkansas and Florida State), but he committed to Mississippi State only to play baseball. Still will require a decent bonus I'd imagine to beat out SEC NIL money.

Huge fan of Nimmala. I’m still a shade skeptical that he makes it to 13, but Joe’s mock lays a path. Both the Angels and Diamondbacks have been traveling in mass to meet with preps, especially shortstops. A guy that I’ve heard teams like a lot is Adrian Santana and I’ve been surprised to see him mocked later. Mocks aren’t everything, but I’ve heard more like a top 15 guy than a late first/Comp A/second round guy that I see him listed as most places. He’s a switch hitter and a sure shortstop. He’s showing in-game power from both sides. It’s a profile that gets people excited. Very possible that three of Nimmala, Santana, Colt Emerson, Houck, and Walker Martin along with some college guys (Shaw, in particular, and then Troy) are all sitting there at 13. If that’s the case I don’t have an idea yet on how they’d navigate it. I do think they’ll lean towards some upside, but you could parse that a few ways. I entered the year thinking if Nimmala is there he’d be the most likely pick. Hope that happens.

Appreciate it, folks! Mitchell is great. I've been very impressed with him. One thing to note on data is that it's really difficult to dig for with the high schoolers. I have Colin Houck with multiple hits (at least one HR) in the 103-105 mph range. He had a huge turnout at a recent double header. I won't specifically call out the teams, but high level execs from 5+ organizations. I've had feedback that Colt Emerson is pretty great as well. I think he'll ultimately go higher than people think right now. He only went lower in this mock because Seattle "bought him down". Honestly feel good naming him in my preseason top 10. That's another guy you might like Tom. He turns 18 a week or so after the draft this summer.

Yeah I’m not sure I’d argue that Horton wasn’t that much of a prospect prior to his ascension last year. He absolutely was. 2020 was an insane year in general like we all know but we’re definitely still feeling the effects of it even in the tiny niche of the MLB draft. With the weird draft we saw a bunch of preps make it to campus. Prior to COVID, Kantrovitz had a visit with Horton and his family at their house. He had a strong offer to go to Oklahoma as a two-sport guy. I definitely get how folks look at the pick as a reach but from what I’ve gathered that’s not how it was viewed by teams. Even if the Cubs didn’t take him at 7, he was going top 10 (someone also said top 11). I think Horton made the right decision to sign. Sounds like he had a strong offer from Oklahoma to return, but he’d be right in that Hurston Waldrep zone for me in the draft (7-12). It’s also a draft with a lot more depth in pitching and he might have been pushed down just for that reason. if you like Ferris better, that’s totally cool. He’s a lefthander with a lot of ceiling. Sounds like Noah Schultz was another player they were having conversations with for an overslot pick at 47. He just got scooped by the White Sox. Not sure how they would have gone if Schultz and Ferris were both there. I thought both were late first rounders. Again the 2022 draft merits scrutiny. They need to have gotten the process right, just feels like from folks around that they took the right swings. We’ll see if it plays out that way.

My only critique is that it feels arbitrary. Callis saw Horton this spring, said he looked great, and was a top 100 guy for him. Prospects Live had Horton on their Top 100. If Hodge, Wicks, and Brown (according to Phil) are looking even better, that's good, no? The 2022 draft merits a lot of scrutiny. They took big swings and I'd have been fine going elsewhere at 7 (Neto, Collier), but if Horton does what he should and is still down in the pecking order I feel great about that. Watch out for Brandon Birdsell, btw.

I can't speak on specifics (and I don't know all the details), but I believe Leeper may have had a significant injury.

So I'm not sure this is official or decided, but heard Jensen might not be in Iowa. Guessing it's Kilian, Sampson, Thompson, Neidert, then it still leaves one more. Perhaps Ben Brown? Not sure yet on that one.